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Editor's note
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In an era of weasel words and “alternative facts”, Australia needs fact-checking more than ever. That’s one reason we are excited about the return of the ABC’s fact-checking unit, which re-launched yesterday as RMIT ABC Fact Check.
The Conversation has been publishing its own FactChecks since 2013, authored and double-checked by experts. In today’s FactCheck, UNSW’s Rafal Chomik tests Labor’s claim that Australia is on track to have the oldest pension age in the developed world.
And it’s not only our FactCheck authors who unpack the evidence. Today, health researcher Claire Hooker explains how to get through to vaccine or fluoride sceptics who rely on “alternative facts”.
It’s our hope that a healthy fact-check culture in Australia will have us all reading and listening more critically, and asking ourselves: “Is that really true?”
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Top story
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Jenny Macklin, shadow minister for families and social services, has attacked a Coalition proposal to raise the pension age.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Rafal Chomik, UNSW
Labor's Jenny Macklin said that under a Coalition proposal, Australia would have the highest pension age in the developed world. Is that right?
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FactCheck
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Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation
In a time of slippery weasel words and 'alternative facts', we are delighted to see the return of the ABC fact-checking unit in collaboration with RMIT.
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Nicole Lee, Curtin University
West Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan said his state has the "worst rate of methamphetamine usage in the country". We asked the experts to check the evidence.
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Health + Medicine
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Claire Hooker, University of Sydney
Reassuring people "not to worry" about public health issues like vaccination or fluoridated water doesn't work. Nor does telling people "don't panic". So, what does?
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Linda Cobiac, University of Melbourne; Lennert Veerman, Cancer Council NSW; Tony Blakely, University of Melbourne
By tweaking the prices of foods and drinks, to make healthy options more affordable relative to the less healthy products, we can influence what people will buy.
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Pat Buckley, University of South Australia
Public health pioneer Basil Hetzel died on February 4 2017. Among other career highlights, he identified the most common cause of preventable brain damage: dietary iodine deficiency.
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Business + Economy
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Richard Ronald, University of Amsterdam
Generation Rent may force a complete rethinking of home ownership as a basis of our housing systems. Rather than representing security, these housing markets make us vulnerable.
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James Arvanitakis, Western Sydney University; Lauren Stanley, Western Sydney University; Trina Jorre de St Jorre, Deakin University
Young women are are confident in implementing budgeting and savings strategies, but lack the knowledge and confidence required to implement long-term financial strategies, a new pilot study finds.
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Politics + Society
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Anika Gauja, University of Sydney
While populism is considered a threat to democracy, there are in fact lessons our leaders can learn from the experience of populism in other countries.
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Narelle Miragliotta, Monash University
While the Liberals' decision to preference One Nation on how-to-vote cards might be expedient in the short term, it could seriously cost them if they are returned to power.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Australia is falling short in its progress towards almost all its targets for overcoming Indigenous disadvantage, the 2017 Closing the Gap report shows.
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Emma Baker, University of Adelaide
Housing affordability is often not the only problem households face. More often the compounding effects of multiple problems leave people unable to cope, which is why one solution won't work for all.
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Arts + Culture
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Julian Meyrick, Flinders University
The plays of Alex Buzo captured the spirit of rebellion of a new generation of theatre artists.
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Xing Ruan, UNSW
Construction should have stopped once the roofs were erected. Any citizen could then have walked up to the terraced amphitheatre, sat down and gazed back at the country from this shrine to the nation.
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Environment + Energy
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Anthony James, Swinburne University of Technology
Think you couldn't possibly do without your car? There are more options than you might think.
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Bruce Mountain, Victoria University
Privatisation and competition were supposed to make electricity cheaper. Instead, Australia's quasi-federal energy system has made it easier to pass the buck when things go wrong.
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Science + Technology
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Duane W. Hamacher, Monash University; Carla Bento Guedes, UNSW
Disney's Moana has a remarkably accurate depiction of how Polynesian peoples navigate by the stars, and draws attention to the richness of Indigenous astronomy.
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Simon Williams, Flinders University
The Centrelink debt recovery system reminds us that many data systems are prone to error, and that's built in to how they work.
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Columnists
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Featured jobs
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University of Tasmania — Hobart, Tasmania
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The University of Notre Dame Australia — Sydney, New South Wales
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RMIT University — Melbourne, Victoria
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Murdoch University — Perth, Western Australia
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Featured events
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State Library of Victoria, Theatrette. 179 La Trobe Street, Melbourne , Victoria, 3000, Australia — La Trobe University
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Studio 1 – ACMI Federation Square, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia — Futures Foundation
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UNSW , Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia — UNSW
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CSIRO, 3-4 Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tasmania, 7004, Australia — University of Tasmania
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